Destined
by MiniMe
Summary: The Digidestined are captured and taken to save another world, and begin the first step in the Mending of Worlds. But they certainly aren't without opposition... Yaoi/Yuri
1. Prologue to Confusion

Disclaimer- I own no digimon things

Disclaimer- I own no digimon things. Truly!

WARNINGS-Masochism, sadism, sex, death, angst, flufferrificness and heterosexually challenged characters (that means gay).

A/N- This is my first digimon piece, so if you have comments, questions, criticism, please leave it in your review or email me. If you leave an email addy, I'll respond to your review. Aside from that this contains-

**YAOI AND YURI!!!!**

So if you keep reading, now you know and can't flame me 'cause I gave you warning, actually you can anyways but let's hope you won't. I'm not the biggest digimon buff; almost all of my info comes from fics and Megchan's encyclopedia. 

Prologue to Confusion 

"Please Gennai, don't be like that-"

"Shut up damn you!" Gennai bellowed. His eyes flashed dangerously as he whirled around to point an accusatory finger and the cloaked woman. "I don't need this, this SHIT! The digital world is undergoing preparations for one of it's greatest battles, you CANNOT TAKE AWAY ITS ONLY HOPE FOR SURVIVAL!" He finished with a scream. The woman chuckled and un-hooded herself. Gennai faltered, she had never done that before. And he could see why.

Her beauty was incredible, her eyes were a simple mixed green but her face had an aristocratic form about it, perfect in its shape her skin was a light gold. Her ears perked a little more than normal human ones, giving her an otherworldly grace and beauty. But all of this was marred by the two brands on her cheeks, one on each. The scar tissue was built up but they still oozed puss, and looked inflamed as well as painful. She shook out her long white hair, with one black streak down the side. The black seemed to writhe and Gennai felt himself being drawn down and in-

"**Gennai**." The voice was imperious, the command so forceful he stumbled back. "I am sorry my fr- colleague" she continued smoothly" I know my appearance must give you many questions but we must attend to the matter at hand. My opponent has taken evil from another world and given it form within ours; it is from your world. The evil was great but trapped, by one of **your** champions." Gennai nodded, he knew whom she was talking about and sighed, it had only been a matter of time 'till **he** broke free…

"So I shall make you a deal, I shall take the evil from your world and bring it to mine along with the good, so shall your realm be safe. They will return in good time, and when they do you may be surprised." The woman frowned. "Their memories shall however be kept from them until the appropriate time, some of them are, distraught now." Gennai looked at her sullenly.

"Since you could do it anyways, and my permission means little, I grant your 'favor"' He imbued as much sarcasm into the word as possible. The woman smirked, showing more emotion then than she ever had.

"Funny Gennai, I trust you need to make arrangements. And don't worry, since I am keeping balance of forces by bringing them and keeping the balance in bringing them, I assure you, they shall have power enough to do as they please. But you must do one thing." Gennai looked at her with sullen anger, and some measure of curiosity.

"**Give them the power of their crests back, in full!"** And the words were with such force that Gennai did so unconsciously. He collapsed then, and the digital world wavered slightly as its guardian took power from it in a way he didn't know was possible. The woman raised a hand and a knife appeared in it. She then created a bowl in the other.

Very carefully, she took the knife and made an incision in her lip, and drop of blood went into the bowl. From both ears she did the same thing, from the tip of her nose and lastly from her eyelids. Then she sat on the ground, placed the bowl down, gently, and then slashed her palm. The blood flowed freely into the bowl until it was filled to the brim. Then the cut on her hand healed with a flash of light and power.

**"Blood of mine, I abjure thee, bring me what I seek."** She didn't bother with runes or magic words; she needed raw power now and had no time for finesse. And the dark liquid rose in a ball, contorted into strange shapes and vanished. The woman felt her power fall dangerously low, the spell was complete, for now they would remember nothing, except the guardian of course…now to wait. The woman restored her hood, and then seemed to fold in on herself, and after that she too vanished.

When Gennai awoke, many things ran through his head, but one that stuck out was that she said the digidestined were having, problems… He gathered the power of the digital world around him, something that she had inadvertently shown him when she commanded him to restore the crests. And he looked in and down and then _out…_

"Tai, I-"

"Shhh…" Tai put a single finger on Koushiro's lips. The young genius looked at Tai with fear and no small amount of love in his eyes. Sora had told Tai to take it slow, so he did. "Everything is fine Kou." Tai laid his hand on Koushiro's shoulder, and grew angry when Koushiro flinched.

_I'll kill them all._ Koushiro must have seen the rage in his eyes, and shrank down even further, abject terror in his eyes. And a terrible acceptance. Tai looked down at Koushiro, the rage vanished leaving only gentle compassion on his face. Koushiro's face was marred by a black eye and a cut along with a split lip. Desire blossomed in his chest quickly spreading to other places where the rush of blood would become all too obvious.

Koushiro suddenly buried his head in Tai's chest, and he just sobbed. Tai wrapped his arms around him. Koushiro wondered in the back of his head why he was breaking down so much, but it felt so very **good** to be in Tai's arms… He needed to invite Tai for over for study sessions more often…

Ken Ichijouji traced a gentle finger along his desk. There was dust on it. Rage boiled up in him until he realized that this wasn't the digital world, he had no servants here. He shoved that part of him down, making his demeanor emotionless. He'd gotten very good at that since Sam- he roughly shunted that thought away. Weakness was unacceptable, as much as losing to those fucking digidestined. 

_Daisuke…_ Then that thought too was destroyed. Ken was ruthless and cruel, but not unrealistic. If he took Daisuke it would be as a slave. And that would squash him so much that he wouldn't be Daisuke anymore, merely a mindless slave wearing that body. Ken was cruel but not a sadist; he just did what he felt necessary. A psychologist would see Ken simply trying to foist off the pain he felt inside onto others. But it was deeper than that, far deeper, and far more pain than that.

Hikari trembled, it hurt, but that was so very good… Hikari hated blood, it was so very messy. And a razor would be dangerous, she didn't want to die, just release the pain. It was the pain that kept her sane, kept her evil at bay. She inserted the next pin and hissed gently at the pain. She was very good by now; she knew where all the major nerves were and just how much she could tweak them before passing out.

Now for the next pin. The demon within her fed gladly on the pain. Perfection came at such a high price sometimes… 

Mimi clutched a picture to her chest, her breathing shallow and quick. Life was so **fucking hard!** Her parents didn't know of course, nobody did. Mimi was above all a perfect actor, or rather actress. But that aside nobody knew her, not in that way. Jyou did on some level. But that was it and even he didn't know. Mimi kept her relationships shallow for a reason. If you don't love it can't hurt, simple right? Oh sure she loved her parents but that's different, that's obligation.

But did it have to so hard? Yes, but in the end it was worth it, oh she cared for the digidestined but truly they didn't know her the same way they did each other. They all cared for her but she maintained the position of airhead well enough that she knew they didn't think there was more to her. _Except Sora…_ Like Ken, she quickly squashed the though of forbidden love, Sora obviously was torn between Yamato and Tai, it was so clichéd but so true. Mimi looked at the tearstained picture of her and Sora, their arms around each other and shopping bags surrounding them. She remembered the buzz and electricity she had felt at Sora's touch...

Daisuke gently nuzzled Takeru's hair. So very soft… The two gently held each other, content to just feel the warmth and caring that they shared. Tk turned up to face Daisuke and flashed him a brilliant smile. The two did love each other, they complimented each other greatly and they were both content. Daisuke gently traced one finger down Takeru's chest and then tweaked a nipple. Tk squeaked and then turned over to get Daisuke back. The two wrestled for a bit and then collapsed on one another, their breath mingling between their faces, only to be smashed out of the way as their faces collided, lips interlocking and passion moving back and forth with intense force.

After going back up for air Takeru dragged Daisuke up onto the couch and the two just lay there, content in their love. If Sora had been there, she would have wept. To see the bond of love between the two, to see it's strength and depth, to see that it could become so profound. To see the two other shimmering cords stretching out to two other people.To know that love was not destined to be.

Sometimes, fate is very cruel…

Miyako pouted, she was damn good at it. It just wasn't fair! The digimon emperor just had to be one of the most eligible bachelors in her age group didn't it? It just had to be Ken Ichijouji, damn him. Why couldn't he have a normal hobby like other boys, like… Oh she didn't know. Miyako waved her hands around and ignored the strange sense in her that said something was happening to Hikari. Oh she knew what it was now, that extra feeling she got whenever Hikari was in danger. She didn't know why, oh sure she cared about her but she wasn't a _lesbian_ was she?

_Nonsense, I like boys, I like Ken, well not really anymore but he is hot…_ She ignored the fact that while the Kaiser was indeed attractive he was also fairly feminine. The fact that she didn't ever pay that sort of attention to boys, she always thought in the long term, she **would **marry someday, **would **have kids and **liked** boys above all. She was sure of it…

Sora was sure she knew what was right. She knew that Mimi liked her; she knew that Takeru and Daisuke were in love, and she had in fact cried over the fate for the two of them. She knew about Tai and Koushiro, knew about Hikari and her demons, knew about her and Miyako. She knew about all of them, even who Ken really was, on the inside. She knew all of their secrets, when you understood how a person loved and whom they loved and what, you understood all you really needed to. Love was passion, and to turn love on its back created hate. Sora could just as well have the crest of understanding.

But that didn't change her doubt, even after all this time she had doubt, what if she was wrong? She didn't have the crest of courage, she was love, love was fragile and quick to break, and it needed time to become the strongest it could be. She decided then and there, enough of the endless waiting. She raised the phone and dialed a lengthy number long since memorized. It rang once before Mimi picked it up.

Alternatively, fate can be very kind indeed.

Jyou gently drew another meaningless shape on his notes as he considered the problem at hand. Studying anatomy as a hobby kept him busy, and it would definitely come in handy when he went to medical school. He had accepted his destiny, and although he would probably never be comfortable around blood, he could learn to cope. Contentment would be worth it though. 

Jyou looked at idly at the picture of Yamato on his desk. It was black and white but seemed to frame something so much deeper than a color photo could. It helped elevate the level of art that Jyou saw in Yamato's face, his eyes… They were beautiful eyes at that. Such a brilliant blue… Jyou smiled, that was something that could pass the time. He drew out a piece of paper and a pencil. He sat, staring at the picture for a few minutes and then put pencil to paper. He happily sketched for a time; the only sound in his room the measured breathing and the scratching of a pencil.

A common sound in the Ishida household was the scratching of a pencil and the measured beats of a foot thumping the floor. To accompany this was a soothing flow of humming melody. Yamato took song writing seriously, and actually found it very relaxing. He had songs for everything, songs he wrote when he was angry, happy, sad, horny… Those were pretty embarrassing and graphic. He knew for a fact Sora had read a couple, but she never mentioned them, she just gave him those knowing looks…

But then again, Sora would love to have everyone think she knew everything. Of course she probably did at this point… If it weren't for Sora Yamato didn't think he would believe in Woman's Intuition, but Sora had the craziest instincts… She'd caught Koushiro before he tried to suicide, got Tai to go for Kou. She helped Yamato find himself, who knew what other schemes she had her hands in. The thing wrong was her absolutely abysmal self-confidence; she needed some serious self-help seminar or something.

Yamato thought for while about nothing in particular. He was listening to some American music right now; English was such a kind language, fun to sing too.

_"Oppression, you prey on us when we sleep-"_

__"Iori please stop playing that American hippy music, you know it makes me nervous." Iori sighed, there was nothing wrong with the music, but his mom had unpleasant memories of her trip to America in the 60's…

Iori flopped around on his bed, he was restless. Lately everyone had been acting so weird. Must be puberty or something. Iori shook his head, if that was growing up maybe he should just stay a kid, Iori wasn't good at mood swings. He turned over and stared at the ceiling. Life was good; he had friends his age and other older friends. He had his digimon and his D3. He was fine and life was good, right?

And lastly, sometimes fate throws very weird curve balls.

All of the 12 digidestined, including the Kaiser, with all their troubles and problems, soon fell prey to a deep slumber. In the digital world, two ultimate digimon, who had been hiding up until now, slept as well. A vengeful spirit, trapped within a man was given form, and it too slept. Lastly, but certainly not the least, a girl with immense potential fell to slumber as well.

And then they _moved._

_ _

Gennai sighed, now he would have to meet with all their parents, and explain what had happened. One year, a year to solve whatever problems were in that world. He cursed and a tear of frustration slowly wove a trail down his cheek. He straightened up and pulled on his robes. He looked presentable now, except for the utter exhaustion on his face.

_Damn you Sael, now I have to go talk to those parents of theirs…_

_ _

_"Well I guess we have our job, who do we attend to first?"_

"Yeah right, I hate this."

_"We can do it, we just have to gather the others, what do you think?"_

"Right now Iori needs us the most, the whole sacrifice thing is going to get him killed obviously, and then we can have him meet Tai and Koushiro."

_"Excellent, that's what we'll do then."_

_ _

"Well well, let the games begin." Piedmon leaned back on his throne; this new, **human,** body was intriguing, as was this new world. "Once upon a time there were 8 digidestined, and they imprisoned the greatest of the Dark Masters in a fantastic battle. Then the last Dark Master was freed, and killed them all, the end."

A/N Confuse-erated (yes, that's my own word! I'm so dumb…)? I hope so, but if you think about it, some things are pretty obvious. The other chapters will be longer.


	2. Introductions

Dislcaimer- I don't own the digidestined, but now you know what to get me for Chanukah… I will be taking a leaf out of Mercede

Dislcaimer- I don't own the digidestined, but now you know what to get me for Chanukah… I will be takinga leaf out of Mercedes Lackey, David and Leigh Eddings, Terry Pratchett and Roger Zelazny, all of whom are great writers if you like fantasy.

A/N- Thanks guys for the reviews. I was gonna send this chapter out later but realized no one else was likely to read the first chapter so here goes. In this chapter the plot thickens and you get a little surprise at the end. If anyone can guess who tortures the one guy on the Hunt, I'll give you a cookie…

**INTRODUCTIONS**

"Oh Tai tonight's the night!" Mimi Ke'Leyona squealed. The young merchant girl, no, woman was practically skipping out to meet her greatest friend. The two couldn't even really remember how they had met, just taking the friendship for granted.

Tai rose up and smiled at her, his wild hair spreading out like a fire on his head. He wore a simple outfit of cotton breeches, a tunic with a little gold trim and some fine boots. On his ear he wore a single black opal, a gift from Mimi. The opal had come in handy several times as it protected him from some more common illnesses and was supposed to make him immune to weaker enchantments.

"Tonight's the night for a knight." Mimi tried the rhyme and then just laughed. She reached up and gave Tai a chaste peck on the cheek. The knight to be flashed her a winning smile, his teeth were a startling white.

"Oh Tai, now you're going to go away and life will be so **boring** here." She frowned for a second and then smiled as she dragged him away to make sure that he dressed properly for such an event.

"Come on Koushiro, let's go see." Faelix implored. Koushiro looked at Faelix with a confused expression on his face, then it cleared. 

"How did you?" Koushiro foundered for a second, how could Faelix have found the records for the pairings? Koushiro wore a blue robe; silver trim coated its edges and a silver sash held it together.

"It was easy, I found an invisibility scroll." Koushiro goggled. 

"But that's- that's- I mean it's- well that's a 3rd echelon level spell!" Koushiro practically shouted. Faelix looked at him.

"Uh Kou, I just read it and followed the instructions, besides who did the insubstantiality spell? And that's teacher echelon level." Koushiro blushed. He was young for a 1st echelon mage, but he had talent. Something that made all of the other 1st echelon level mages extremely jealous of him. Faelix was his only friend, but Faelix was 2nd level, and well on his way to teacher status.

"Anyway, guess who you've got, I read the list." _Then why did you ask if I wanted to go see? I'll never understand you Faelix_. Aloud Koushiro said, "Uhm, I have no idea?"

"Oh come on guess."

"Faelix I don't know any knights, except for Tai Ser'Takya but he's famous-" Koushiro cut off, Faelix had an evil twinkle in his eye.

"I'm, paired with him?" Koushiro suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Faelix's eyes widened in mock innocence.

"Hmm… Well yes now isn't that interesting, maybe that little crush-"

"Shut up!" Koushiro shouted and then felt instantly repentful.

"Now don't get all sulky on me, I know the risks of teasing you, but yes, you're paired with the great mute knight!" Faelix finished with a little jig. The young man had a head full of fiery red hair and startling blue eyes. His smile was infectious if a little lopsided. His nose was a little too small and his ears a little to far back but he still made all the female journeymen swoon.

Koushiro laughed, something that happened so rarely it warmed Faelix's heart when it did. _Poor guy, good thing I had that little talk with Mimi, she'll make everything all right… I think, still not sure if there is anything between those pretty little ears of hers…_

"Hmm… Now how about this?" Mimi asked. Her helping Tai to dress had been finished quickly enough. Tai wasn't picky and Mimi was fast when it came to other people. So now they were in Mimi's sitting room with her personal maidservant and the warm summer sun bathing them in light.

Tai gave her a look that plainly said "No pink Mimi." Mimi sighed while Freyla giggled. Tai gave Freyla a wink while Mimi's back was turned making her burst into laughter. Mimi whirled around to find Tai shrugging helplessly while Freyla gave her high-pitched laugh. It reminded Tai of the sound a trickle made, for whatever reason…

"Are you two making fun of me?" She asked putting her hands on her hips. Then she pouted. Mimi was known for her pout, it was a pout that could bring any of the court's knights or lords to their knees. The pout had won her family more than one merchant dealing. It had been honed to perfection, along with a number of her other mannerisms. Then she straightened and cleared her throat.

"Freyla, Tai and I need a quiet moment now." Freyla nodded and quickly left. Mimi clucked her tongue as she ran a hand over the fine silken dress.

"Well Tai, I had a little visitor today, about your partner." Tai's eyes widened. "His name's Koushiro Stareye, and apparently Faelix felt you should know a few things about him. One of them is going to make you jump out of your pants by the way." Tai's eyes widened even more as Mimi gave him the most suggestive wink that he'd ever seen. The wink made overtures in addition to her smile that was just a little too innocent. 

"First of all, he's got that innocent 'I need protection' look and you're just going to want to snuggle him up and never let go. But he totally isn't comfortable with that. He also is still a little unsure of what he is, and that it's just a phase. That two hot guys weren't made to wrestle in the mud with no-." Mimi stopped, and shook her hair to get rid of her blush as she realized she'd been talking out loud.

"Woops, don't know **what** I was thinking. Anyway, he's vulnerable, over protective and defensive. Independent but reserved, also has some minor head issues." Mimi stopped to look at her nails; they apparently met her standards as she then flung herself backwards onto her bed. "So, don't cling, take it slow, and let him have his space. Don't give me that look Tai." Tai wondered how she knew. "I mean it, don't cling or help every ten seconds, he needs to find himself. And don't be an ass to him, you can't lose your temper."

Tai watched the heiress of the most powerful merchant house in all of Larek skip around her room, her laugh bubbling over and infecting him with a smile.

"Lawks!" Mimi said. It was so funny that Tai began to laugh, or at least tried to. It came out as more of wheeze, but Mimi didn't show her reaction to the ugly sound, she knew how much it pained Tai. _I still think that Duke Eltan could have healed him; I'll get him for that yet._ Duke Eltan was the royal family's personal healer, the best in the land according to Eltan himself.

_Bullshit is what I think._ Mimi sighed, now she had to make the tough decisions, what in the world would she wear? She knew that she could wear something ugly and still garner the affections of the knights, but she wanted something beautiful… A knock startled her and caused Tai to reach for a sword that wasn't there.

"Mimi, we have a surprise for you." Mimi's parents slid into the room, her father holding folded up package. Her mother gave a nod to Tai, and her dad unfolded the dress. Mimi's eyes went wide. _Oh my god!_ She screamed silently. It was everything she'd ever dreamed about in a gown. She could tell the red would compliment her hair and eyes, and was that- she felt her knees grow weak.

"This is for you Mimi." And her mother handed her a necklace covered in rubies that matched the dress. Mimi reacted by crying and flinging herself around her parents. Tai silently excused himself.

"That's the first time someone's survived the hunt in 70 years, you should be proud." The man was trembling weak-kneed; his eyes were wide in fear and his pants stained with piss. His fear rose from him in waves, causing the man standing above him to inhale deeply.

"As such though, I have no reward planned. So what to do what to do?" The man gently tapped his chin. Then he smiled, but it was a smile devoid of anything but lust. Lust for what, well that was soon answered by the man's screams.

"Uhm, Faelix what do I wear?" Koushiro asked, his voice sounded panicky, he just knew it. Faelix sauntered over to where Koushiro stood.

"This." He said. Koushiro turned and saw him holding a red robe with silver trim and simplistic but powerful runes on it. "It's my going away present. I cooked it up with one of my friends." Koushiro took it with gently shaking hands. It was such a perfect gift… Koushiro found something wet sliding down his face. Crying was for the weak, yet another sign his mother had been right-

"I know what you're thinking and she's wrong." Faelix held Koushiro's head firmly between his hands and shook him gently. Koushiro laughed bitterly and then smiled, his tears gone.

"Yeah, I'm sure, besides, she's long gone now and I'm still here." Faelix considered that and let it past, he was good with people and a powerful mage in his own right, he knew his worth. But he also knew Koushiro's worth, and it was beyond anything they had expected. _I just hope that someday the power you will have won't get to you, great power corrupts so very easily…_

Fear, what is fear? Fear was defined in the Books of Knowledge as "an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger." And danger there was. Iori knew he would die, everybody did, but he was special. His death would serve a purpose. He and the other 50 children would be sacrificed to the god Sovarek at the height of the festival, if it could be called that.

But he was even special in that group.

The priests had foreseen him, every now and then along would come a sacrifice with such power, such innocence locked in great understanding that the blood of such a child would carry incredible power. And the god would be pleased, as blood would be spilled. 

Iori was such a child, but not even the priests knew how special.

The guardian watched the children play. They knew they would die, but they had known that since birth, had had it drilled into them. They weren't allowed near anything that could allow them to escape or maybe suicide. And they were watched constantly. But Sovarek had even kept things from his priests. They thought that the children once dead rose to play by the side of the god, and to serve him in the realm of the gods. Sovarek cared not for that though, and used every ounce of energy their souls possessed, leaving them near to being non-existent, and that made for great power, even for a god.

The guardian considered this and decided.

Iori crept carefully out of bed and swiftly made his way through the corridor. Death terrified him. Being raised to die… That was fear so constant it was unbearable. But he endured, what other choice did he have? Tonight though, he could be free. Iori gathered what few possessions he could and went out the door. He didn't know why tonight of all nights he had chosen to sneak out. The fear of being caught was terrifying normally. But tonight it felt like someone else was moving his body and he was asleep.

He crept up to the door and eased it open. Then he froze. There were to guards there. His courage broke at that point, but he kept going. The guards stared straight ahead, but their eyes were vacant. It was then Iori realized they weren't breathing. They were dead… The terror rose and this time it broke through whatever strange compulsion was on Iori. Then Iori stopped and flashed into unconsciousness, his last sensation one of light and feathers.

_Excellent, that's taken care of, this is- STOP THINKING THAT!_

__"Sorry, I can't help it, he's so beautiful now…"

_Yeah well keep your excitement level down bucko, god having a male body is weird, I'm not used to having an erection. I like my original body much more thank you very much._

__"Can't be helped, we can separate later, now we need the power."

_Damn straight, now let's move onto Sora and Jyou. And keep the "romantic" thoughts to yourself all right?_

__"That's sort of difficult, we are sharing the same mind."

_Yeah, that's almost as bad as when you thought about-_

__"Listen, I am way over him, we weren't meant for each other." The voice was full of confidence, but buried was no small amount of something akin to regret. Maybe even sorrow… The figure spread its wings and took to the sky, the bundle it left on the ground was concealed, and its occupant would sleep until it was discovered. Tai and Koushiro would find it, fate would drive them.

Sora Roseblood tapped her foot angrily, Jyou was supposed to arrive today and she was damned if she'd wait much longer. Finally she heard the clip clop of horse's hooves. Out of the estates forests came a tall lanky blue haired man with accentuated features and pale skin. Sora immediately lost all annoyance and became deliriously happy. Spontaneously a bush next to her went into bloom. She laughed and ran to Jyou.

Jyou Fa'Talis looked up and watched the girl, no, young woman, run down to greet him. The rest of his family was no doubt inside pursuing whatever little hobbies they had. Jyou then grinned, a site that had broken many ladies hearts in its time, and jumped down from the horse only to be crushed by a tearful Sora.

"My Sora you've grown." He said.

"That's because we haven't seen each other for 13 years. You've grown too." She smiled up at him. "So how was the academy?"

Jyou grimaced. "It was pretty bad, but aside from learning how to kill people I learned a lot about politics and numerous other tidbits of information. Now how about you?"

"Well being a druid is interesting. It's the same principle as a regular mage but more shamanistic in some ways." Jyou nodded and then Sora smiled impishly.

"So… Meet any interesting guys at the academy?" Jyou blushed.

"Maybe, but that sort of thing was discouraged and not everyone shares the open views our kingdom has." Sora shrugged, such things didn't bother her, if she were in love she would damn well do something, fuck what anybody else thought. 

"Alright then, tell me everything interesting that's happened to you since you left." She linked arms with Jyou and led him off to hear what he had been up too in the past 13 years.

Dinner that night was an interesting affair. Jyou related much in the way of gossip, and not the sort of stuff the teleson would communicate. The rest of his family all were very interested and glad to have Jyou back, his parents were especially glad since Jyou was their youngest and wouldn't need land or anything to inherit. Assassins were always treated with the greatest of respect. If someone was assassinated the assassin wasn't hunted down, frequently the assassin would be detained and sent to assassinate his former employer by the angry family. If someone killed an Assassin the entire academy would concentrate all their efforts on killing them, a most unhealthy state of affairs for that unlucky stupid individual.

"So dear, how are you?" His mother asked after the dinner, and the question carried over entire waves of emotion.

"I'm well mother." The slightly formal reply in its turn meant entirely different things in his tone. His mother nodded with a pleased look on her face. Jyou flashed her a true smile and gasped as his dad heartily slapped him on the back. His father was a little shorter than him and smelled.

"Torth Fa'Talis have you been drinking?" His wife inquired with no small amount of steel in her voice. Jyou's father was drunk enough not to notice.

"Eh, so what if I have been?" He seemed to think that was hilarious and began to double over with laughter, and then returned to the table. Jyou suddenly felt as though something was rummaging through his mind and his vision greyed out for a minute. But then he was fine. His training was such that his body had gone rigid while it happened so as to prevent any show of weakness.

"Jyou my dear cousin, I have a request for you." Jyou looked up to see his father's oldest brother, the Duke of this keep.

"Yes my lord?"

"Oh please Jyou, I cleaned your swaddling cloths, call me Kaliss. Anyway, we are delivering a few important stones to the King of Larek as it is his birthing day come this month. I would appreciate it if you would deliver them. I would also have you take Sora as she is anxious to see the great flower gardens of Larek's great palace." Kaliss looked Jyou in the eye. There was a question there.

"Yes Kaliss, I would be glad too." Kaliss nodded, pleased by the silent and not silent answers.

"Then I would get some sleep tonight Jyou, I want you to start out as early as possible."

"I think that went fairly well."

_Especially considering who remembered that the king had a birthday this month._

__"All right so you deserve that credit."

_Of course I do, I'm so smart. So what now Tk?_

__"I guess we move on to Miyako and Ken. Maybe afterwards we can tackle Dai- Oh stop that Jun I'm not gonna start fantasizing about your brother again. I remember all to well what happened last time."

_Yeah well it's **really**__ not cool to see your brother naked and trying to fuck his boyfriend, really, weren't you guys a little young for that?_

__"We weren't thinking about that, and you know Dai and I aren't meant for each other so please stop talking about."

_Oh Tk, here…_

__For a time the winged figure seemed to fold in on itself as Jun took control. Tk became formless and slept in a corner of their shared mind. Jun mentally covered Tk up and then winged it out to find Ken and Miyako.


	3. Encircling Destiny

Disclaimer- I don't own digimon, but now you know what to get me for Chanukah…

Disclaimer- I don't own digimon, but now you know what to get me for Chanukah…

A/N- Well another day, another chapter. Except it's not another day…Hmmm… Anyway here we go. Oh, but before we attend our daily fic reading, please Review guys!!! I have 7 reviews and 62 hits! This is not good for my confidence. Oh well, at least no flames yet, but I'll manage to piss someone off someday, you just watch… And sorry this is short, don't expect anything new for a couple weeks. If you want a heads up let me know by leaving your email addy or sending it to me!

Notes- Stuff in _plain italics_ is stuff from memory or thoughts, stuff _"In quotes in italics_" I stuff being exchanged via the finger language, stole that right out from under David Edding's nose.

ENCIRCLING DESTINY 

Kenji Fa'Taela preferred to be called Ken. But nobody ever did except Miyako. Of course that might just be because she needed all the speed she could get when talking so as to not bore others to death with her long commentary on life lover-

"So anyway, Ken are you listening to me?" Ken jumped, and then thought _shit; I forgot Miya was still here._

"Damn it Ken why can't you listen for more than 5 minutes without frolicking off into la la land?" Miyako Serra'Forla glared at her best friend. She shifted her arms and sniffed, saying what she thought of Ken's attitude. The youngest lady knight in the Duchy of Tortu was an unusual beauty; her purple hair marked her apart from other lady knights and the ladies of court. As a matter of fact purple hair was quite popular amongst some of the younger ladies, dyed but purple nonetheless. Ken sighed, he remembered that week, and her ego had almost suffered an ulcer it got so big…

"There you go again, I swear Ken you have the attention span of a cocker spaniel." Ken's ears perked at the mention of a dog. Breeding animals was what the Duchy was known for. A kingdom in their own right, the best warhorses, dogs, cats, unicorns and wyverns came from Tortu.

"Fuck this Ken, you obviously need to get out of here, let's go riding on some wyverns." Ken nodded and went to slide on some warmer clothing. He met Miyako out on the wyvern tower where the fresh mounts were kept. Ken sidled up to his own mount, Marble. So named because his scales were the color of marble, unusual amongst Wyverns. Marble had been the runt of a litter but grew bigger than all of his littermates in the end.

Miyako came up a second later just as Ken was finishing putting on the restraints of his saddle. She leapt into her mount's saddle, swatted it's nose when it hissed, and strapped in. her saddle was different than Kens, she had pouches for simple magic globes that could be shot from a sling. Wyvern riders were indigenous to Tortu, since Wyverns only lived in the Wilds, a long stretch of mountains and forest, largely unexplored. There were rumors that the mages had a secret stronghold there incase they ever needed to retreat from humanity, but that was just a myth. Only sometimes explorers reported being under an avalanche one moment and on another peak the next, watching the snow rumble down the mountain…

Miyako finally got her sling and lance where she wanted them and clucked. Ken led his wyvern out with her and then the beasts leapt from the tower. The tower was situated over a steep rocky cliff, the ground was covered in hot springs and the ground was baked when the sun was high up, creating the absolute prefect place to launch a wyvern or hawk.

Ken yelled triumphantly as he plunged through the air. Marble carried him up flawlessly and soon he was racing through the air, his hair streaming behind him and his laughter tumbling through the air. Miyako gave a whoop of delight and spurred her Wyvern on faster. The two flew designs in the air that nobody could see and reveled in it. The wind sped along side them and Ken fancied he could hear the whisper of secrets on its sweet breath.

Suddenly Ken felt a pain lance into shoulder, intense and powerful. He screamed as he realized he'd just been shot with a crossbow bolt. Then with the pain overloading his senses he collapsed into unconsciousness.

Miyako felt something wrong before she saw the crossbow bolt appear from Ken's shoulder. Quickly whirling her wyvern around she drew her sling and hoisted the lance all in one smooth motion. Behind her were 3 other wyvern riders, bandits. There was a good market for wyverns, and not everyone wished to obtain them from Castle Wyvern, so aptly named. Killing wyvern riders on trained beasts was easier than training the beasts themselves, unless the wyvern was loyal. In which case you were dead the second your back was turned.

Miyako wasn't thinking of this, she was cursing her hair that she had forgotten to bind behind her head, it might flicker into her vision and she couldn't afford a distraction now. She gained height and lobbed a capsule at one rider. It burst in his face and he screamed once before his head dissolved. Then she banked, murder in her heart. The second rider didn't know what hit her; she was skewered by a lance in the throat, the woman's lifeblood decorating the back of her wyvern.

Miyako dove and swung to a hard left to avoid whatever the other rider could fling at her. Only she was diving straight into another rider with a lance. She had no shield. _SHIT! _She watched in slow motion as the lance neared her face and then- a sensation of feathers…

Miyako awoke later to find herself being shaken roughly by a frightened Ken.

"Oh gods you're ok, I was so worried and-" Miyako quickly recollected what had happened. All around her were knights from the castle and the Duke himself. Ken's father looked very concerned. She shook her head groggily and winced as it hurt.

"Here Miya, the healer can help that." Senjos, a kindly portly old man smiled and place one warm hand on Miyako's head. For a moment she experienced the peculiar melding that comes from healing as energy flowed into her. When he withdrew his hand it was almost with as much reluctance as Miyako felt for it leaving, healing was a euphoric feeling, something many took as a symbol of what the gods truly desired from humanity.

"You foolish young woman." The duke said kindly, but with a proud smile. "You left improperly equipped but still managed to save my son, for that I thank you heartfelt. I will gift you from the royal armory when we reach Larek."

"Damn it that was close Tk, why didn't you blast them sooner?" Jun angrily growled at the boy's presence. The figure was much more feminine now, seeing as the possessing mind was now a girl's. Tk grumbled at her.

_I'm not used to this, and what were those maneuvers you were trying to do? Our body is going to **ache**__ tomorrow…_

__The figure blushed sheepishly. "Well then maybe we should switch spots then." She felt Tk's assent and relinquished her hold over the body. Tk gently slid into place and found-

"FUCK!"

_Oh come on, having a vagina isn't that bad is it? The breasts haven't developed yet but I'm sure you'll get used to them-_

__"I'm changing it now." Jun didn't argue, but now she had something she could always tease Tk about, since it would take him several hours to get back to normal.

"So let's see, now all we have to do is find Yama and Dais…"

_Ooooh, we get to peak in on your luscious older brother do we? Well well well-_

__"Two can play that game, and since I have control over the body your going to be getting aroused to this." For a minute the figure stood there, cloaked in deep white robes of power. It's wings stretched behind it and the face held the hope of Tk with the reckless element of Jun. Their two personalities matched perfectly, and the melding of the two created great power.

_Oh god, please make it stop! NOW TK!_

__"Ouch, oh alright but just so you know…"

_Oh my god I can't believe I just saw my brother licking- ugh… I'll get you for that._

__"Yeah yeah whatever, we have a job to do, let's get to it."

Mimi glance next to her as her dining partner sat down. His tall elegant body was almost lanky but held a deadly sort of grace. Mimi could read faces and body's like books, it was part of how she operated, and she knew this young handsome man for what he was, an Assassin. _Probably Hand or Arm, make that Arm, he just took the first bite and winked at me. _Mimi smiled softly and made a polite social laugh, turning her charm up to the maximum. She gently flashed a certain amount of cleavage; his eyes were drawn but didn't stay.

_Hmm… he likes men then, or is so into his work he can only concentrate on it… No, definitely men given the way he's looking at the crown prince._ The heir to the throne, Jalkin, was a beautiful boy with curly blonde hair and silver eyes. A strange combination, but he had eyebrows and cheekbones to kill for. _Poor baby, he and Tai were such good friends, something that pissed Eltan off certainly._

"So milady, who do I have the extreme pleasure of addressing." Jyou cautiously extended the greeting. He had seen her testing him, and she knew him for what he was and so he knew what she was in turn. He was almost looking forward to the long game.

"Oh, I am Mimi Ke'Leyona," _Merchant lord's daughter, Leyona? Hmm… Oh yes, the second most powerful merchant consortium in Larek, and the only one with ties to the Duchy of Tortu, nice corner on the Wyvern market they got there. _"And you **must** be Jyou Fa'Talis." Jyou would have started in surprise but realized she was the kind of girl who must keep track of every member of the great houses circling through.

"So, why are you here Lord- oops I seem to have dropped my napkin!" Jyou knew what was expected of him and picked it up; when he held it out to her she smiled with a pleased look. Her fingers flickered at him briefly and in his surprise he almost froze. He watched her finger unobtrusively.

_"So, Jyou, excuse me but I am curious, Arm?"_

_"Yes milady." _Jyou knew that if she was smart and knowledgeable to know what rank he was he might as well admit it, the academy taught when it was graceful to bow out.

They continued to eat, passing information back and forth between their fingers, faces and most of all their voices. On such a high level of political intrigue everything had hidden meaning. Finally the dinner ended and everyone adjourned to the ball. Jyou gracefully linked arms with Mimi and led her into the gigantic hall. 

The ceiling rose up like a fiery sunrise, it was done in fantastic paintings depicting the legends of the gods. Gold, silver, platinum, marble, colors of all sorts, it was a masterpiece that had taken several generations to finish. Jyou and Mimi gently glided across the floor in slow stately dances. Within moments Jyou had her laughing with his well barbed comments about certain lords and ladies. Finally they went to one of the private balconies where they could talk unnoticed.

"Ah Mimi, this place is so beautiful." Jyou murmured softly. Neither of them knew why but they both felt a peculiar bond, one that made them both familiar to each other despite having never met before. Suddenly a pretty young lady appeared between the two, wearing the deep ruby robes of a mage with green trim.

"Jyou, who is your noble friend?" Mimi smiled looked to Jyou. After introducing Lady Mimi Ke'Leyona to Sora Roseblood he watched the two gently kiss the air beside their heads. Mimi and Sora shivered at each other's touches, something electric passed between them in that moment. Suddenly Mimi felt nervous while Sora felt energized. The two stared at each other in an awkward silence that was strangely compelling. Jyou quietly left, he recognized attraction when he saw it, and although it surprised him, he knew to leave it well enough alone. Now just to make sure they weren't interrupted…****


	4. Drawing Together

Dislcaimer- I don't own Digimon, really, just believe me all right

Disclaimer- I don't own Digimon; really, just believe me all right?

A/N- Ho hum… You know I only have 9 reviews for this story… And there are a good many more hits than that… I'm starting to think no one loves me anymore… Oh and from now on I'm going to give shout outs in the story, that way if you don't leave your email address you can still garner a response. And here we go!!!!

DRAWING TOGETHER 

** **

Mimi gazed demurely down at her feet while she thought quickly. She'd never looked at girls before, she did like guys, but no man had ever made her heart race like Sora was now. _What am I thinking, I've only **just**__ met this girl! What is going on? _Mimi gently traced a pattern in her dress and watched Sora's beautiful eyes flitter uncomfortably from place to place. Suddenly Mimi knew what to do.

"Would you care to visit the gardens? There are some fabulous night blooming roses down there." Sora nodded enthusiastically. Mimi smiled, in addition to such niceties there were some of the best trysting sites in the whole castle…

_Oh god._ Tk choked up, he couldn't do this. He looked on as Daisuke picked pocket after pocket and he was entranced. Iori was his beloved, Iori was his beloved, and Daisuke was his-

_Tk, you don't have to do this, I can really, you're in so much pain you shouldn't be putting up with this._

"How can I put up with this? I need to become accustomed to it, to teach myself that Dais is no longer mine, otherwise how can I love Iori?"

_You know I don't think it's really love Tk; it's a compulsion, one that eats away at you for eternity._

__"No, I saw in the vortex, it was Tai and Koushiro, Jyou and Yamato, Sora and Mimi, Miyako and Hikari, Ken and Daisuke and me with Iori." Tk's voice sounded plaintive. Jun sighed within his mind. Something about that seemed wrong to her, something that resounded deep within her bones. But if Tk was sure… She didn't remember the time in between, merely the here and now.

_Whatever Tk, now let's take care of my- OH SHIT!_

_ _

Daisuke smiled to himself. Today was going well. He'd already pinched enough to feed him that night and to buy incense for Lakoi, goddess of thieves and prostitutes. Daisuke shuddered at that thought and then quickly shoved it to the back of his head. If he didn't think about it, it couldn't hurt him; at least that was the theory.Concentrate, he couldn't let his finger tremble, couldn't afford to get caught-

"Hey! Thief!" Daisuke ran, dodging in and out of a sea of people, a mindless river that forced him into its current. Then he felt himself seize up and rise up. _SHIT!_ Magic, strong and potent grabbed him and held him above the crowd. He looked at the bag he'd stolen and saw a rune sewn onto it. It must have been a tracking rune, one that would enable a mage power over it and its holder.

"Well, look what we have here." Daisuke froze at that voice, he knew-

"I guess we'll just have to re-educate you thief, here sir, this I believe is yours." A hand snagged the pouch and gave it to the mage who sniffed disdainfully at Daisuke. 

"I hope you teach this filth not to mess with his betters good sir." The voice turned into a man that walked in front Daisuke, one that Daisuke knew all to well.

"Oh certainly, good day milord, we'll take him from here." The mage motioned and Daisuke fell to the ground. He tried to run, but he only ran into another guard. The group surrounded him quickly and began to beat him quietly. Daisuke yelped in pain as he was quickly tied up. The men all hoisted him into the air and carried him to the barracks. 

Rough hands grabbed him and tore the rags he called clothes off of him. Daisuke whimpered as he felt cold hands tie him to a wooden bench. Cruel splinters rubbed against his body. He was then gagged. He trembled in fear of what he knew was going to happen, what had happened before. His eyes bugged out of his head as he felt the first man enter, intense splitting pain. He screamed into the gag and his eyes watered with pain filled tears. The man slammed into him, over and over- Daisuke blacked out from the pain before being reawaken with some ice water.

Then the man withdrew and Daisuke whimpered. Then the second man, and this one was big, pain again, he felt blood trickle out of his defiled body- 

A scream behind made him jerk. Then the man was gone and he heard sounds of a scuffle. Cool smooth and strong hands caressed him and untied him. He looked up into the face of a blue-eyed angel. His hair was a frosty gold and his eyes were deep glacial meadows. A single cool loving hand gently traced a line on Daisuke's face and a strong loving voice spoke into his head. He suddenly found himself clothed and felt gold in his pockets. Then the figure wavered and vanished, leaving a single feather to float down into Daisuke's hand.

He looked up at a sudden whimper. The men that had been raping him lay on the floor, mewling helpless and their eyes filled with terror. Daisuke stared in awe and fear; the men twitched and bled from strange wounds that oozed puss and a weird black substance. Then Daisuke realized what was happening, their skin was peeling back from their bodies and was becoming instantly infected. What he didn't know was that they were seeing things, horrible images and feeling incredible pain in addition to the skin leaving their bodies. What he didn't know was that they would actually go on living, and would die of dehydration before anything else.

What he did know was where he needed to go, outside the city, to join an entourage, and quickly at that.

"So, Ser Takya-" Koushiro began, then stopped and blushed when Tai sent him an exasperated look.

"Sorry, Tai, where do we go now?" Tai smiled and shrugged. Koushiro groaned, they had been sent to a village as a starting point and had joined the locals in fighting off some bandits. The bastards had kept several towns in terror in that area, but between Koushiro, Tai and the 50 some odd enraged villagers they had kill the entire camp.

Suddenly Tai stopped and sniffed the air. He lifted his ears much like a hound and whirled his horse around to a gallop. Koushiro followed without hesitation, although he was a tad annoyed that Tai didn't even acknowledge his presence. All resentment vanished when he saw a young lad trying to cook something on a fire. When Koushiro realized with a sickening feeling that thing was a rat and the boy was emaciated he blanched.

The boy shied away and stared at Tai in fear. Then the three of them felt a surge of satisfaction, as if the rightest thing had ever happened. Koushiro reckoned he could almost hear a vague "point" said somewhere far away and close at the same time. Tai leapt down from the horse and grabbed the boy. Suddenly he lifted the boy up and swung him down onto his horse. The boy stared in awe at the animal and appeared frightened out of his wits.

"Oh uhm right." Koushiro stammered as Tai sent him a look that plainly said 'I can't speak and this kid needs to hear someone talk so talk you fucking moron.' "Alright then child what is your name?" The boy looked at him bewildered. Koushiro tried another language, one used only in the far south. He tried several dialects and finally in exasperation he tried old Faelk. To his surprise the boy responded.

"Iori." The boy said and looked at Koushiro and his eyes widened in fear.

"Are you a priest?" Koushiro raised an eyebrow.

"No, I am a mage and this is Tai Ser Takya, we are on a" He fumbled for the word but the admission was enough for the boy.

"You are Ser Takya?" Iori asked in wonder. Tai looked bewilderedly at Koushiro, archaic tongues were only spoken by mages, priests and scholars, and Tai couldn't speak anyways. Iori remembered this with a blush.

"Yes he is, you have heard of him?" Koushiro then blushed as well, the entire fucking world knew of Ser Takya, the youngest knight in a generation, and one that had already created a debt to himself from the royalty of Larek, well known as one of the strongest kingdoms in the world. But Iori's face grew much brighter and he smiled cheerfully.

"My name is Koushiro, and I cannot translate my mage name just yet let me think." Iori looked at Koushiro not really caring about his last name. Tai shook his head and looked around. He nodded and reached over to his pack where he pulled out his bow and a quarrel of arrows. Koushiro nodded.

"Ah, now I remember, Stareye, so anyway Iori Tai's going to go hunt now, so I'll set up camp. Why don't you go down and-" Koushiro paused, searching for the word. "Ah, wash please and then dinner will be ready." Iori nodded and slide off the horse. Then he looked at Koushiro questioningly. Koushiro's eyes grew vacant and he pointed to his right. Iori nodded and ran off.

The river was fast moving but there was a small pool where Iori could wash. He quickly stripped and jumped in. He yelped at the cold water and shivered, before grabbing some sand and scrubbing his body. Then he submerged his head and scrubbed his hair. Suddenly Koushiro was there and holding a bar of soap. He passed it to Iori who, teeth chattering, blushed and quickly took it before turning his back on Koushiro.

_Doesn't like being naked around others._ Koushiro filed that away under information for where the boy might be from. He drew a towel out from behind him and waited. Iori looked at him and towel with an almost pleading look. Koushiro smiled and laid the towel down. After doing so he walked off. Iori, still shivering, continued to wash and then jumped out. He quickly grabbed the towel around him and washed. He was so cold…

Then he looked around and realized he had thrown his clothes into the river! Iori stared forlornly as he watched them float away and realized his shoes were gone. The day had started off so well and then he had gone and done something so stupid… He felt strong arms lift him up and looked into the kind face of Ser Takya. Iori blushed; realizing he was naked with only a small towel separated him from the great knight. 

Tai clutched Iori to him and rocked him softly as he carried him back to the campsite. Iori felt warm and cozy, and he snuggled up to Tai's chest reflexively. Tai was unpleasantly surprised by how light the boy was, and became vaguely angry at whoever had put the boy through this.

"Damn it Tai what the hell were you thinking?" Koushiro inquired angrily. Iori woke up and saw the size of the young buck Tai had caught and almost laughed at the helpless expression on Tai's face. "I mean honestly what are we going to **do** with all of it?" Koushiro gestured wildly now. Tai shrugged and made an eating motion with his mouth. Iori sighed and laid his head down on Tai's shoulder. 

Tai caught the flicker of jealousy in Koushiro's expression and decided tonight that he would "explain" something he'd been working up the courage to for a few nights now. Tai smiled inwardly, he could face down Assassins, a rampaging Wyvern, bandits, royalty, Duke Eltan, but he couldn't show the boy he thought was attractive who he at least knew liked him that Tai would return his affections? That was sort of backwards, or so it seemed to Tai. He looked at Koushiro and smiled, yes, tonight he'd start something, what he didn't know was how powerful that something would become.

_Things are falling together quite well, what do we do next?_

__"I don't know, I can't find Hikari and Matt is on his way to the right place. But I can't find Kari!" Tk sounded desperate and Jun couldn't blame him. Each of the digidestined were essential, but some of them were more, susceptible, to certain influences, Kari was one of those. Ken was safe and Tk was obviously bound to Jun but Kari…

**"You will not find Kari Tk, she is protected by my adversary. Jun, you must take control, for my enemy does not know of you and cannot protect himself from your power."** Jun quietly slipped into control. Feeling the wind bless her skin with its cool touch. Her wings spread, white columns of blessed light. Tk shrank deep into their shared mind and rested. Jun stretched her wings and jumped from the tower. At the last second she sped off, their magic powering them. She felt for Kari and found her, and her dismay was mirrored by Tk as she realized what would follow.

"Ken I'm so bored." Miyako murmured plaintively. Ken sighed at her tone, Miyako needed exercise and frankly riding a horse all day wasn't doing it for her. Ken enjoyed the perspective quiet that riding brought. But Miyako didn't enjoy it at all and- He realized she was glaring at him.

"I swear Ken you have the shortest attention span I've ever seen." Ken blushed.

"Thanks Miya, ooh look a vagabond knight looking to ravish you." Miyako sneered at him and when she thought Ken wasn't looking gave a furtive glance over her shoulder. What she did surprise her, a small boy, no, a young man about her and Ken's age from the looks of it was slipping in and out of the shadows behind the traveling group. She loosened the sword in her sheath and when she saw the figure reappear she wheeled her horse around and charged him. Ken noticed her ansence and the knights she galloped past quickly followed her.

Daisuke froze in fear as he saw the horse bear down on him and young lady sitting on it, her purple hair flowing behind her like a vengeful haze. Her sword was long and cruel and her demeanor was righteous wrath. She leapt off of the horse, which stamped around and gave Daisuke a reproachful look as if to say 'this is all your fault.'

"Why are you following us boy." Daisuke bristled at that but went silent in fear as he saw the two men approach. He was about to open his mouth and speak but one of the men comtenpuously spat on him.

"Street filth, skewer him and have done with it." He took out his sword but his companion placed a commanding arm on his hand.

"Stay your hand, most thieves are not thieves by choice Fredrick, as you should know." The man said pointedly. The bulky Fredrick blushed and turn back to the group which had stopped. Daisuke once again opened his mouth to say something when the feather in his jerkin fell out. As it did it blazed with bright light and blinded everyone except Miyako and Daisuke. And those two saw a group of young people with small strange animals. And then the vision ended.

When it did Ken was there and from the confused look on his face he had shared the vision. One of Ken's father's treasured advisors was there with a curious look on her face. Beside him was Senji's apprentice, who was looking at them with wide eyes. The feather gently floated up and returned to Daisuke, but not before caressing the faces of Miyako and Ken.

"A sign." The apprentice said in awe, and most of the caravan made the sign of whatever god they worshipped. 

"So, Daisuke, you say you were rescued from prison by an angel?" Ken asked. His father looked askance as Ken's mother.

"Yes." Daisuke answered, intimdated by the presence of nobility and power. Miyako sent a look at Ken.

"Father, mother, Miya and I have something to share with you." Ken's father looked at them and his mother narrowed her eyes, thinking something along the lines of illegitmate children. "And no it has nothing to do with sex, but when I was knocked unconscious I felt." Ken struggled for the words to express what he had felt.

"I felt it too, you see I didn't best those badntis, one swooped down out of nowhere and struck me a glancing blow. But before falling I felt this strange sensation of feathers." Both of them looked at each other. Ken's mother and father exchanged a glance.

"Although your story could be attributed to the fact you **were** both knocked unconscious, I believe that this episode with the feather proves there is some stronger power at work here." His father paused. "I'm sure when we reach Larek we can talk to the archpriests and discover which god is involved with this." The youths nodded. "Until such time, Ken, Miyako, you are the guardians of this boy, make sure he comes to no harm." At that was end of that, but merely the beginning of something greater than anything they could imagine.

"Please milady, please-" Hikari glared coldly down at the man. Her face showed no emotion and her body was rigid in displeasure. Her face was drawn tight. With a small gesture blackness surrounded her hands, it was more an absence of anything than energy, it was just the essence of not-being, the antipathy of existence. She hurled it angrily at the man, and his flesh bubbled angrily where it struck. He screamed as he was consumed by the negative energy.

"Next time dust **every** shelf." She said coldly. The rest of the staff shuddered. Kari stalked into the throne room and flung herself onto her throne. Strong smooth hands gently massaged her shoulders. She sighed angrily.

"They're so disobedient, sometimes I swear I don't know what to do with them." Kari leaned into the strong hands and chuckled seductively. "But then again I know **exactly** what to do with you." She said. She darted up quickly and flicked her tongue into his mouth, tasting his sweet powerful flavor. 

Piedmon smiled, with Kari under his sway he would rule absolute. Only someone so good could fall to something so deliciously evil. He trilled gently into her mouth and proceeded to ravage her on her throne. His queen of darkness for his empire of darkness. Soon, so very soon… Revenge and dominion would be his, and not even those blasted guardians could stand in his way. All 4 worlds would be his…

So I'll start from the last chapter-

Taya- well I tried to make it intruiging! It's nice to know it worked. I thought that Jyou's job would be rather ironic and as for what happened to Jun and Tk, well that was sort spun form the story, I didn't mean for that to happen actually.

Izumi Dude- Well here you go, hope you enjoy. Big shout out for reviewing every chapter. THANK YOU!

As for the rest of you I need reviews to know I'm doing well, I have one review for every 20 readers, which means something is going wrong… so **REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!!**


	5. Encounters

Disclaimer- I don't own Digimon, and if I did certain right wing political groups would be after my ass…

A/N- Sorry it's been a while; I've been working on my Harry Potter stuff. Anyway here we go. This fic will come slowly until AD is over, which probably won't happen till March, I don't know, sorry everyone!!!! If I get swamped with reviews though… I may take a break and work on this. I dunno. And sorry for spelling problems, if I try and use Spell check Word quits and erases what I last wrote.

**ENCOUNTERS**

Koushiro knelt by the fire, idly poking it with a stick and watching it catch fire. Then he grounded it into the dirt, putting it out. He felt a strong callused hand on his shoulder and repressed a shiver at the touch. Then he did shiver as the hand trace a line going from his shoulder up along his neck and onto his check. Unthinkingly Koushiro leaned in and nuzzled the hand. 

Tai gently brought Koushiro's face up to face his own. He stared deep into Koushiro's dark deep eyes. Koushiro froze, his mind racing. Suddenly Tai was dragging him up and Koushiro felt fear race through his veins. And Tai held him tightly by his shoulders, his face unreadable. Koushiro whimpered in fear, he was going to be beaten; he could tell from that look, _they _**always** wore that look…

Tai's face softened into a warm smile. He gently cupped Koushiro's face and brought his lips up to his own. Suddenly Tai was kissing him and Koushiro opened his mouth unbidden. For a second he was bewildered, Koushiro was as virginal as they came, but Tai took it slow. Koushiro felt an odd tingling in his chest that spread like liquid flame to his groin and his eyes. Tai smiled and gently kissed a tear from Koushiro's face and wrapped his arms around the mage. Koushiro laughed and cried for a second, willing himself as close to Tai as he could be.

He wanted to melt into Tai, wanted to meld with him and become one. He wanted to bury himself in Tai's mouth forever, to have Tai's face held to his lips in a kiss. The two kissed then, and this time it was raw hot passion that flowed through the kiss, not the sweet sensitive first time. Koushiro groaned as Tai skillfully moved over to his neck.

Iori watched from his bedroll. He smiled; glad that these people he'd been with for such a short time had found happiness. His smile vanished and was replaced by a wide-open mouth as he saw Tai drag Koushiro over to bedroll and pin him to it. His eyes went wide as he saw the two of them practically rip each other's clothes off. And he covered his mouth with his hand and his eyes bugged out of his head as he saw Tai wink naughtily at Koushiro and then his head went down and-

"OH GOD TAI!" Koushiro shouted with wild abandon. Tai trilled gently causing the boy-mage to spasm with pleasure. Tai then took his mouth off of Koushiro and nibbled on a single hard nipple. Koushiro's mind was blown, _along with my-_ He stopped and blushed at the thought before Tai went to work on his nipple. Suddenly he wanted to pleasure Tai, not the other way around.

He flipped Tai over, surprising the knight and then nipped him gently on his nipple. Tai made a warped sort of groan. Koushiro didn't notice, all he could think of was trying to replicated what Tai had done to him Almost accidentally he pushed down with his hand on a place near Tai's groin that was commonly referred to as the pleasure spot. Tai's eyes went wide and Koushiro began to massage it in earnest. Things just went downhill from there.

"Eli, eli, shelo yigam'r lay oh lahm, cha-chol, veychayam, reishru, shel hamy-im berack, hashamyim, t'filat, ha'adam." Sweet echoing words slowly faded from the clearing as Yamato placed the lute back. The ancient words of a song that's meaning was long since forgotten still echoed amongst trees so old they might remember it. Yamato sighed and ran a hand through his blond locks.

Time to move on. The last village he'd been in had pointed him north in the direction of Larek. It was time to find home.

_Wow, Yama is still sizzlin'!_

"Please Jun, you know who he's destined for so just let lie alright?"

_Okay okay, I'll back off, I mean geez there's nothing wrong with admiring the scenery is there? And what scenery…_

"Jun…" 

_Oh alright, but you take all the fun out of a girl's life._

"Just shut up."

"So…" Jyou drawled. Sora giggled again and collapsed on the couch in his suite.

"Oh Jyou, Mimi is so wonderful and it just feels so right to be with her." Sora said. Jyou nodded, he didn't believe in true love at first site, but maybe there was something to it.

"As long as she treats you well, remember she does come from a shrewd merchant family and can basically have any man and some women at court, I want her to be good to you." Sora waved her hand.

"Oh Jyou you don't have to play big brother, she's so kind I'm sure she'd never do something like that." Sora replied, without anger. Jyou was just being, well Jyou. Responsible, worrying and protective Jyou. It felt nice to know that Jyou would always look out for her. And Mimi-

Jyou took one look at Sora's face and smiled slightly, she was gone, he could see it in her eyes. _Probably thinking of Ke'Leyona, oh dear, I think I'll go into town for a bit._ Jyou softly closed the door and edged his way out.

He wandered around the castle, purposefully taking the long route. It paid to know your surroundings. By tomorrow he would have all the known and most of the lesser-known ins and outs of the castle memorized. Within minutes he was outside. He strolled out of the castle and into the city. It was late at night, and the crowd that was collected right now was definitely not the kind you'd want to be in. If you weren't prepared that is. Jyou had a few of his "tools", but even without them he would have been fine.

"Hey good lookin' want some time wit' a real man?" A drunkard leered at him. In the back of his mind Jyou thought _He'd be cute if he weren't ugly._ Jyou shouldered his was past him and continued his stroll. Suddenly he dropped and rolled, instincts trained into him from when he was young making him jump out of danger's way. The man tackled empty air. Jyou calmly stood up and dusted off his cloak. And then jumped out of the way again as a group of young men and women surrounded him.

_Five to one odds, why can't they just leave me alone?_ The first woman lunged for him and Jyou seemed to slide past her rusty blade before bringing his knee up to catch her midsection and knock the wind out of her. He whirled around then, sending out his dagger through another man's throat. And then he slammed his hand against a wall, causing an explosion of smoke to cover the area as the smoke ball detonated. It cleared very quickly, and all that was left were shadows.

The woman Jyou had kicked was down, and the man was dead. That left the other two men and a woman. He smiled from his position in the window; time to take out the trash.

He selected a number 5 throwing star, not everyone's favorite but damn good if you had the trick. Jyou had the trick. He moved then, darting out of his hiding place in the window directly above the assailants and hit the other wall with his foot, going forward and then pushing off while almost lazily tossing the dagger at one of the men. He was down with a dagger in his throat as well. Jyou always aimed for the throat. Oh sure, some of the flashier members of his profession went for the eyes, but you never could be absolutely sure of hitting the eyes unless you were damn good.

Jyou was good, he reflected as he slid under the frantic slice of the woman's dagger. But he wasn't that good he thought as he pulled out a chikra which sliced the woman in her stomach. Jyou ducked out from under the spill of blood as the woman choked on it. The last man broke into a run and Jyou stood for a second, and then moved his arm in a blur of speed.

The man was hit so hard there was an audible thunk when the number 4 dagger with the special edge hit the man in the back of his head. Within a couple seconds there was no one there, and the people began to creep out of their houses again. A few darted out to search the bodies, but nothing was on them, their money purses had all been snipped.

Sometime later a young boy found a pile of coins in his bedroom in the sewer, and sighed in happiness as it meant he and his mother would have some food for a few weeks, a precious blessing. Jyou didn't really like the sewers, but killing always left the dirtiest taste in his mouth…

He smiled as he moved back to the palace. The trick wasn't to be the spot of absolute silence, which was easy to find. No, the trick was to blend, you didn't want to float, you wanted to let the wind carry you. It wasn't an easy distinction, but if you didn't make it you didn't make it as an Assassin, and then you lost privileges Jyou reflected.

Like breathing for one…

"So Daisuke, what did you do?" Ken asked politely and Miyako looked at him sharply. Ken was fairly sheltered, and from the looks of this boy he could have done just about anything.

"I- uhm that is nothing much m'lord, just this and that-" Ken interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

'Drop the m'lord, just call me Ken all right? And this is Miyako." He said and Daisuke nodded while still looking uncomfortable. Miyako sighed.

"Boy, come with me for a second, Ken stay put." Miyako wheeled her horse around and clucked to Daisuke's horse, which followed docilely. Ken fumed slightly at Miyako's behavior and kept going forward. Once they were out of ear shot Miyako looked the young boy down, and realized he must be the same age as her.

"Well first of all, I don't want you letting anything slip to Ken that could be, unsavory. He is relatively unspoiled right now, he is an innocent, and will remain as such." She looked at Daisuke who nodded slightly fearfully, and then she frowned.

"This is your first time riding a horse right?" Daisuke nodded. "Well come over here." She dismounted and helped Daisuke down. Then she turned around to dig a jar of something out of her pack. Then she looked at him.

"Well… On second thought this can wait till we break camp, but if you really start to hurt let me know." Daisuke smirked bitterly. Nothing could possibly hurt him more than he'd already been hurt. Miyako frowned deeper, whatever had been done to this boy was obviously unpleasant to put it mildly, and Miyako wouldn't stand for such injustice.

Sora stretched and looked so inviting that Mimi wanted to jump her right then and there. _No, I won't, I will take this slowly, she probably hasn't been with another woman before and-_

"So Mimi." Sora said softly and huskily as she sat down next to her new friend. "What exactly does your family do?" She said as she traced a design on the bench. Mimi saw she was tracing the sign of the patron god of love. _Oh well, there's a first time for everything, including being wrong I guess._

They both looked at each other then and started to say something. Sora said something along the lines of "Oh let's just cut to the chase." While Mimi said "Ah screw this." And then they looked at each other, and Sora leaned in close to Mimi's face and her sweet soft rose lips.

Mimi leaned in and for a second they closed their eyes and then their mouths met, and it was heaven. Mimi felt her body heave with desire and clutched Sora to her tightly. Sora complied slipping a hand into Mimi's dress and Mimi moaned as Sora twisted her perking nipple gently.

"Hmm… Listen, come back to my apartments, I'll have a servant leave a message for your friend." Sora nodded breathlessly and Mimi smiled, there would be some fun tonight…

Daisuke had been wrong, well maybe not wrong, but close. His entire body ached, who would have thought that riding a horse could be so damn uncomfortable? When they finally pitched camp Ken insisted on having Daisuke sleep in his tent, and his father had then told Miyako she would be in there with them. Miyako and Ken didn't care, they'd been playmates since forever.

Now though Ken was looking in dismay at Daisuke as Miayko hummed to herself.

"Miya, should we get Senji's apprentice in here? I mean-' Miyako cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"Shut up Ken. Now, massage this into his legs and rump, and then he should feel much better. I'm going to go for a walk, I'll be back in an hour or so." With that Miyako left. Daisuke looked nervously at Ken who looked vaguely uncomfortable, something that made Daisuke feel better.

"Well, lie down I guess." Ken said and Daisuke looked at him.

"Please turn around m'lor- Ken." He corrected himself, Ken flushed and did so. Daisuke stripped and then lay down, careful to cover his back side with his jerkin. He cleared his throat and Ken turned and looked at the lithe body of a boy that was nearly a man and not quite there, his auburn spiky hair and just-

_Wow, this kid is attractive in this light._ Ken shook off the chill he suddenly got, and then began to massage the soother into the boy's legs. Daisuke murmured and soon fell asleep. Ken chuckled, he wished for deferential treatment and so Miya set him to massaging a street urchin that was really quite appealing…

Ken just kept working on his legs and then went to his back, working out knots all over Daisuke's body.

"Hmmm…" Koushiro was warm. He didn't wake up warm often. He always kicked his covers off. But apparently he'd barely moved since last night. He snuggled close to the warmth, and promptly realized it was a body. A warm strong body that smelled good, earthy…

He opened his eyes and was soon being rained with kisses. Koushiro moaned as Tai nuzzled him and nipped his neck lightly.

"Uhm, I'm hungry." Said a small voice and Koushiro started. Then he relaxed, it was just Iori- IORI! Koushiro groaned, they had just corrupted an innocent child, god he regretted being a screamer, the poor kid must have gotten no sleep at all last night… But then again neither had he or Tai…

"Uhm, Iori, I- that is well we apologize-" Koushiro began.

"I don't care, you two deserve each other, just next time please don't be so loud." Iori said. He felt so much better, so free, there were no confines, no knowledge that he was going to be sacrificed, he was just free!

"Oh, all right." Said Koushiro and then turned to Tai switching out of old Faelk. "Tai, are we ready to move on? I'll start a fire and you can strip the rest of the deer all right?" Tai nodded and then got up and pulled on some pants and grabbing a towel he ran down to where the river was. Koushiro shook his head grinning ruefully and then looked at the fire. The logs promptly burst into flames.

"That felt good." He muttered. Iori watched him for a minute and then asked how he could help.

"I think our job is done." Takeru said, his blond hair ruffling gently in the wind. __

_ "I'd say so… So what now?" _Jun asked. Takeru grinned.

"I think we should go meet Jyou, Sora and Mimi, but first let's go introduce ourselves to Yama- ah shit!" Upon turning their attention to Yamato they saw that he had gotten himself in a bit of a fix…

"I have no money!" Yamato protested, his skin crawling in fear. Who know what these people could do to him.

"No money?" Inquired one of the bandits, the leader, a woman who was soft spoken and had brilliant red hair that shone eagerly in the meager light of the forest. "Then whatever shall we do-" She was cut off as a figure landed in the middle of the group, a boy who had spectacular glowing white wings coming out of his back, his features angelic in their beauty, but his eyes were cold with anger.

"Leave, now." Said the boy, and the bandits all took off, leaving anything they had happened to drop while accosting Yamato. Yamato turned to run and found her couldn't. Fear made him sweat as he waited for the demon or whatever it was to kill him.

"Yama." Said the boy, and the expression on his face was wistful. Yamato stared at the boy, partially in horror, and yet a strange curiosity there as well.

"Wha- what are you?" The boy smiled sadly and then his eyes seemed to roll back in his head and then-

There was a blinding flash of light that Yamato covered his eyes by throwing up his forearm so that he wasn't blinded. Still it took a couple seconds for his eyes to clear, and when they did there was that boy still, but now there was a girl beside him, one with spiky auburn hair and a cocky grin on her face, her eyes twinkled merrily.

"Hi Yama, I'm Jun and this is Takeru, or Tk, he's your little brother."

"Jun." Tk groaned as he slapped a hand to his face in dismay. This was not exactly the way he wanted their meeting to go.

"Oh shut Tz as my brother would say, or maybe not." Jun reflected and hten shrugged. "Whatever, let's say it's time to eat because I am pretty damn hungry."

"They are gathering, soon you shall lose." Whispered Sael, her cheeks oozing puss. She stood tall next to her opponent.

"We shall see, even that horrible mutilation you have committed upon yourself shall not grant you the power necessary to defeat me." His voice was soft as silk, warm velvet that cuddled the mind, it was like being covered in comfort, it was beautiful and haunting.

It was a lie, for it was capable of thing crueler than you could imagine.

"Indeed we shall see, for the other worlds are awakening, and then they shall assume their destinies, for they are many, and your tool is only one." She retorted and the man laughed.

"You are a fool to think that." She gasped, horror etched across her face.

"But- but the rules-"

"Matter not." He interrupted smoothly, his beautiful face creased with an evil grin. "Rules were of course, as they say, made to be broken, were they not?"

"Maybe." Sael said calmly, her rage under control now, "But you give me an edge, one that shall assist in my goals, for the fate of this world."

"And you underestimate your tools, both of you, soon they shall depose you, are you ready for that?" Said a nameless voice. The two looked at each other and Sael smiled.

"I am."

"I too have contingencies."

"Good." The voice said. "Then let the games begin!" The man snorted.

"Whatever." He said, and disappeared.

Once again, sorry this took so long, next chapter hopefully out by the end of January? This thing is taking a long time to be written…


	6. Rejoining

Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon, and that's the truth. Can you handle the truth? I hope so, cuz otherwise those lawyers will get me…

A/N- Once again, sorry for the wait. I am a terrible person I know… I must give a big shout out to Pareathe for making me get back on track for this story- I had GINORMOUS (my own word) writer's block and still do to some extent. So go read her excellent stories. And this is- well it's not so good, I need a beta- who wants to beta for me? *Looks pleadingly at the audience* It doesn't take much time given how much of this I churn out… ENJOY!

Rejoining

Jyou stretched and waited for his back to pop- there it went. He sighed and then began to do his morning stretches, an Assassin needed to stay limber if they were to do their jobs. Then he took out the pendant that classified him as Hand. He hung gently about his neck and paced over to window of his room. The palace was full of dignitaries staying for the King's birthday, he'd faithfully delivered the diamonds and emeralds from his uncle's mines.

He smiled and absently wondered where Sora was and how she was doing. Maybe he should go check on her…

"Hmm…" Mimi murmured as she awoke, and then paused. There was someone in bed with her, not unusual in and of itself, but- 

"Ah." She sighed, it was Sora, that delightful girl she'd met last night. Mimi shook out her hair and gently slid out of the bed, wincing as her feet touched the cold floor and find a pair of slippers before padding over to her window and pushing the shudders back. 

Outside the city was coated in morning dew, and glistened in the sun. It was fantastic. She ran a hand over the sill of the window, feeling the grain of the cold stone beneath her fingers, slipping them gently against it's hard granite surface. A soft "hmm" behind her told her that Sora was awakening. She smiled and floated over to where her- beloved? She had only known the girl for a little while. And yet- and yet. There was something intangible about Sora that made Mimi feel more right than she ever had in her life. 

It was one thing to enjoy tales of love at first sight, but faced with it Mimi doubted it. How could you fall in love at first sight? Love was the bond of friendship before all else. In order to be in love you needed to be friends with that person, be it platonic or sexual. Friendship was the key, love was merely deeper friendship. She had no friendship with this girl, but as she watched Sora slowly open her eyes and gaze at Mimi with a beautiful smile of contentment, she couldn't help but add "yet" onto that statement.

After all, she had a feeling they would make fine friends…

"This, you expect me to believe this?" Yamato asked incredulously. "I do not know what either of you have ingested of recent and make no doubt that I am thankful for my rescue from those bandits who almost certainly would have dealt me harm but- what the fuck?" He suddenly swore and Jun yawned.

"This is all well and good but I'm tired. Let's turn in." Tk looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Around them the trees loomed, not threateningly but merely there, collosals of nature that they were, this was one of the stranger sights they had seen.

"I'll go see if there' s town around here." Tk said and let the light surround him. Wings of purest silver came forth from his back and he shot up into the air. Yamato stared at him.

"What is he?" Jun smiled.

"The Avatar."

"What?" The man asked, his voice low and dangerous. It was the sound of jungle cats stalking prey mixed with the cruelty of an insane torcherer. His eyes glowed red with a hint of pupil, he was an elegant man, clearly an aristocrat, and clearly a vampire as he licked the blood from his lips.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Piedmon asked wearily. The vampire shook his head. "Good."

"Now, what do we do?" The vampire asked. Beside them both, sitting at the table between them and with eyes glowing in dark amusement.

"We kill each and every one of them we cannot turn Myotismon." Kari purred and Piedmon laughed, he had control of her so complete she was insane, but indeed Kari was at times far more lucid than any of them. So lucid in fact, she became extremely dangerous, but only to her enemies. Piedmon was not such an enemy.

"Oh, is there anyone else from this other world you spoke of?" Myotismon asked as he dropped the young girl to the ground he'd been feeding on. A pity he'd needed to raze that village, but they'd staked a member of his court, and that just couldn't go unpunished.

"I think that there are two more who could assist us, but they were mere buffoons in the other world, whether they could be of greater assistance is questionable." Piedmon said as he rolled the wine glass in between his fingers. A sudden quick rapping heralded the arrival of Piedmon's sages, they were all uniformed older men with glasses and a peculiar stance that suggested they were used to holding old books and writing in dark places.

"Yes, do please sit down." Piedmon said, suddenly courteous. Kari rolled her eyes and began to stare off into space, these men **bored** her so. They were old and stodgy and almost- dusty, she detested them.

"Ah yes Piedmon." Said their leader, Piedmon grimaced slightly but let it pass, they were very valuable to him and he could tolerate a few infractions as such.

"We have in fact discovered quite a few references to guardians, great beings of immense power that help along their realms." The man readjusted his glasses and peared at a piece of crinkling parchment in his hands.

"It is written in a bizarre dialect of old Faelk mind you, and it says that- I paraphrase of course- there are two "colosses" of power and they watch over the realm, although it is used in a way to imply guard and observe. It says that one is weaker than the other, however implying power wise and not intelligence, and that it makes up for it through balance. By balance a sort of cosmic scale of equilibrium, it's quite fascinating."

The old man continued to talk and Piedmon listened along with Myotismon. Kari meanwhile stared aimlessly at the wall, the dancing frescoes covering it were exquisite… Her fingers touched the ever so smooth grain of the wood that her chair was made of. It felt silky and hard, not rough at all.

She then looked at her hands, so white and soft, creamy and delicate, and she smiled. These were the hands that dealt out life and death with ease, such power was as delightful as it was intoxicating…

"There it is!" Ken shouted jubilantly and beside him Miyako squealed in delight.

"Oh Ken, it's gonna be so much fun!" Beside Ken his father and mother smiled tolerantly, Miyako definitely had her feminine side…

Larek glistened in the mid-afternoon sun. It was a beautiful ancient city and the great palace rose up above the clutter and bustle of everyday life to oversee the city like a great eagle surveying its domain.

The entourage moved forward and was soon at the city gate reserved for visiting nobility, it led onto a street that bypassed all the nastier portions of the city. Daisuke tried to seem as inconspicuous as possible, but it was difficult as he seemed to be the center of scrutinous eyes, harsh glaring eyes that said they knew what he was, pathetic and-

"Hey Dais." Ken murmured into his ear startling the young man. Miyako caught Daisuke's eyes to remind him of what he could and couldn't say. "You want to go to the bazaar later today with Miya and I?" Daisuke looked at the knight who nodded warily, after all if they lost the boy no harm done right?

"The Fa'Taelas are arriving today." Mimi remarked as she fluttered her fan gently against her chest. Every inch of her dress screamed of wealth and power, each curl of her hair spoke of work and the copper plaits woven into it made her body as artistic as her clothing. Jyou appraised her silently and no longer wondered why Sora wouldn't want the beautiful girl.

"Then shall we go meet them?" Jyou asked softly. Unlike Mimi or even Sora who had pulled out her best dress druid robes for the occasion Jyou wore a simple jerkin and trousers that were easy to maneuver in. He carried no weapon, unlike all the other nobles and knights at court, after all he was an Assassin, as was proudly proclaimed by how he acted and dressed. No one else would be so arrogant as to walk without a weapon in such a violent realm as Larek.

"Yes, let's." Sora said simply. Mimi flashed her fingers nimbly at Jyou.

_"Any gossip about the Fa'Taelas my dear Jyou?"_ Mim asked through the sign language. Jyou pretended to be watching something else for practice as he signed her back. 

_"Only that one of their prize wyvern studs had to be killed because he ate a trainer."_ Mimi nodded imperceptibly and asked again. This time Jyou grinned and Sora turned around.

"Both of you are being far to quiet- damn it Mimi you know that funny hand language too don't you?" Sora accused and Mimi fluttered her eye-lashes vapidly, fooling neither Sora or Jyou. 

"Now Sora dear- how could you say such a thing?" Jyou chuckled.

"You are a horrible person Mimi." Sora chided gently and Mimi giggled.

"I know…"

"I do so hate this." Ken muttered and Daisuke couldn't help but think the boy sounded very childish. He quickly suppressed that thought, if you thought such things you might say them, and if you said them… Daisuke was an expert at not saying things. And it would not do to piss of the son of a powerful Duke that so far had taken pity on him.

"Oh be quiet Ken- you're the son of a duke- you should be used to this by now." Miyako hissed out of the corner of her mouth. Ken nodded and sighed wearily. Daisuke really didn't see how **anyone** could mind being dressed in clothes so fine he could imagine them and pampered by seemingly endless lines of servants. Daisuke noticed one high-born girl flashing a speculative glance at Ken and suddenly he felt as if the room was a little too hot and he became angry.

He wondered at this and then looked at Ken who was surveying the crowd. Although he probably didn't know and would deny it, Ken was exuding an arrogant calm that could only come from nobility that was truly powerful. The three wandered around for a little bit and then Miyako wandered off to find the bathroom, her hair had come undone.

And then quite suddenly a flock of young ladies descended on Ken and began to interrogate him, leaving Daisuke quite suddenly bereft of any contact. He quietly slipped away, trying to blend into the crowd but it was difficult. This wasa group of people that moved differently than any he had ever been in before. Daisuke had the odd feeling he was interrupting a dance he couldn't see, and in many ways he was.

Suddenly he was knocked over onto his back by a young belligerent man. The young man turned to Daisuke and sneered.

"Watch where you're going child." The man said, his lip curling in distaste. Daisuke noticed absently that the man was surrounded by a group of other young arrogant noblemen and nights.

"Shouldn't you be down with the other servants boy?" Inquired another mockingly and Daisuke flushed as they laughed at the poor sally.

"Oh look at him, he's flushing- I bet he's ashamed. Too bad he's a coward and we're his betters." Said another and they all smiled. Daisuke trembled with barely contained rage until quite suddenly someone put a hand on his shoulder. He tensed but although the grip was firm it was comforting in a fashion. He noticed that the young men were glowering at his protector. Daisuke turned his head and inclined it slightly to look at the tall youth behind him.

For a moment he thought Ken had grown but quickly realized this was a totally different person. This young man although he did have blue hair had a different face than Ken and his eye weren't that same striking purple blue that Daisuke loved looking at.

"Why don't you go play elsewhere children." It was not a request, but a command. The leader who had "bumped" Daisuke stiffened at the insult but the youth on Daisuke's shoulder merely raised an eyebrow.

"Or would you care to challenge me to a duel?" The blue-haired man inclined his head to one side. "I'd promise only to use one hand." He said softly and the young man drew back in rage but one of his friends but a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"I shall not forget this Jyou Fa'Talis." The young man said threateningly and Jyou grinned.

"I should hope you don't Koren of Gratha." Jyou returned and then turned his back on the group, gently but forcefully leading Daisuke away from them.

"So Daisuke- for a street urchin you sure do know how to pick the right enemies." Jyou remarked casually and Daisuke stared at him. Was this man a mage? And then it hit him, the remark about dueling, the casual way in which he stood but with no weapons. He was an Assasin… His eyes went wide as he stared at Jyou. 

"Everyone seems to have that same reaction." Jyou remarked absently.

"Well you have to admit Jyou, when you're job is to kill people for a living you become almost as undesirable as a tax collector." A young woman said as she sidled on up to him. She wore the simple robes of a mage and Daisuke wondered what kind.

"Sora- I don't just kill people, we're really trained to be everything Daisuke, from spies to horse groomers." Jyou remarked to him. "The game is all about politics- you can hire an Assassin to help with your finances if you so desire, killing people is going out of style lately and to be blunt it does narrow the cliente."

"Well when you put it like that it all sounds so reasonable Jyou." Yet another young woman said, this one bedecked in jewels and her long hair tumbling beautifully down her back, said and Jyou laughed merrily.

"Oh Mimi- I don't know what I used to laugh at without you- aside from the stupidity of people I guess. Daisuke this is Mimi and this is Sora, Sora and Mimi- this is Daisuke." Jyou introduced them and for a second Daisuke could almost forget that he was surrounded by some of the most powerful people in Larek. Suddenly the doors opened and in came a face that everyone knew, unless you lived under a rock.

Or rather not his face, but his hair. The hair of Ser Takya was as famous as his deeds. The great mute knight as he was known strode forward through the crowd and knelt before the king and queen who nodded cordially and he rose. He went over to prince Jalkin and bowed at the waist for the prince who smiled and embraced him.

The whole courtroom then turned away from the prince and his knight friend, many of them missing the entrance of a young man with a slight aura of shyness around him and a boy that stood next to him. Jyou didn't miss them though, Jyou didn't miss much-

So it came as a big surprise to Jyou when Ken appeared out of nowhere with an irritated expression on his face. Jyou actually nearly had a heat attack, not that he let a drop of his surprise show on his face.

"**There** you are Daisuke- I worried you got lost after that gaggle ambushed me." He said wearily and Daisuke smiled nervously. Ken suddenly noticed the others standing there.

"Mimi?" He asked incredulously and Mimi smiled.

"Why Ken- I didn't think that you'd remember." She teased and Ken laughed.

"Well it has been- what? 10 years or so since I saw you last? And who are your friends that rescued Dais?" Daisuke flushed at Ken's pet-name for him. Mimi introduced Jyou and Sora and Ken smiled at each of them before starting in on catching up with Mimi.

"Ser Takya ?" Miyako said, the name becoming a question. Tai turned to see a young beautiful purple haired girl with a warrior's stance and wearing a sword slung low on her hip.

"I'm Miyako, Serra Fa'Taela." She introduced herself and Tai nodded while smiling.

"So Ser Takya-" She stopped as he shook his head and spelled out Tai in the air. He had to do it a couple times before Miyako got it. She blushed and nodded, the great Ser Takya wanted to be on a first name basis with her. Tia wheezed a little chuckle and Miyako grinned suddenly. Suddenly Tai looked over and saw Mimi. Miyako turned and saw Ken. They both turned to excuse themselves and then realized they'd been looking at the same group. Tai got an impish look in his eyes and offered her his arm. Miyako took it, still smiling, and they set out for the other group.

Mimi had noticed Tai and another girl coming towards them, but she had also seen the look that had crossed Koushiro's face at Tai basically abandoning him, and she knew that she would have to give Tai some lessons in love manners. So she of course set off to grab Koushiro and that young boy that he and Tai had obviously acquired somewhere along the line.

"They're together." Jun suddenly whispered and Yamato looked at her oddly. Tk however merely nodded in satisfaction.

"Excellent, soon this will be over."

Although more untruthful words had been spoken, these ranked high up on the list.

A/N- Blech- that was difficult to get out, but with some new feedback I may be galvanized to work some more on this. It may sound shallow, hell it may be shallow but I really do have more incentive if I know that people like my story- hell if people don't like it at least they're reading it! So review and review and then try it again!


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